


For(Given)

by amitiel



Category: Given (Anime), Given (Manga)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Gay, Grief, Loss, Love, M/M, More tags to be added, Vampire AU, Yaoi, given anime - Freeform, vampire
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-21
Updated: 2020-02-02
Packaged: 2021-02-27 12:55:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,616
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22343650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amitiel/pseuds/amitiel
Summary: Vampire AU:Satou Mafuyu is a vampire dealing with a grief and loss that has tormented him for over 200 years. Now that he has to navigate modern Japan while keeping his identity as a vampire a secret, he lives in the shadows, preferring to be alone. That is until he meets young man, and human, Uenoyama Ritsuka. His life quickly starts to repeat patterns he was trying to avoid, and he quickly wonders the same thing that he did so many years ago: Can he successfully avoid falling in love again or will he be doomed to repeat the same pattern that has haunted him all this time?Meanwhile Kaji Akihiko is a newly turned vampire having to learn the ropes of immortality while learning to leave his human life behind. That means having to contend with the vampire who turned him, Murata Ugestu, while having to face the reality that he will have to leave his loved ones behind. The closer he gets to eschewing humanity, the harder it becomes, and ultimately he wonders if it's even possible to forget the name Nakayama Haruki.
Relationships: Kaji Akihiko/Murata Ugetsu, Kaji Akihiko/Nakayama Haruki, Satou Mafuyu & Uenoyama Ritsuka, Satou Mafuyu/Uenoyama Ritsuka, Satou Mafuyu/Yoshida Yuuki
Comments: 20
Kudos: 59





	1. Prologue: The Beautiful Snow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Satou Mafuyu meets someone new

The moon drifted lazily in the sky, its bright light illuminating the gardens below as if it were almost daylight. The snow below drifted in the gentle breeze, a small layer that coated the earth and crystalised the trees and shrubbery. The fountain in the center of the gardens was frozen over, the path and benches covered with ice and snow. It was chilly, far too cold for any reasonable person to be out in the middle of the night, but Satou wasn’t always so reasonable. And he wasn’t a person.

Satou dressed lightly in an all white kimono with black butterflies, something that was traditionally too feminine for a man to wear. He didn’t mind. It fit him well and he was often called cute amongst the elders and others within the community. It gave him the freedom to select the fabrics and patterns that he enjoyed instead of focusing on what was approved of by society. He had a matching black ribbon in his hair, tied into a bow on the side of his head. It matched his delicate exterior, although he considered himself anything but delicate.

It was the perfect time of night for Satou to go outside and sit beneath the stars. No one else at the inn would be there, and he wasn’t looking for company. Even within his own community he was considered a loner, and he liked to keep it that way. When he had been turned, he was scared and alone going forward. There had been no one there to guide him until he stumbled into an elder and they had provided him guidance. Now that he had it, he stuck to the shadows on his own again.

His feet crunching on the snow beneath his feet, Satou looked up at the moonlight and felt it on his pale skin as he walked amongst the snowy gardens. The sound of laughter echoed inside, the party alight as libations passed around and the geisha attended to their every whim. Satou wasn’t interested in that. He wasn’t interested in anyone. It was time to move onto a new location before he wore out his welcome and their suspicion grew. Maybe he would go out west. Probably not.

“Trying to escape the fun too?” a voice called to him, startling him out of his reverie.

Satou looked at the young man wearing a plain red kimono. There was a moment where Satou’s breath caught. The man had light brown hair and brown eyes that were almost gold like honey. The moonlight framed his features like a halo, and he smiled at Satou with a brightness that made his heart stutter. A painful longing and ache filled Satou unexpectedly, that he didn’t quite know how to respond.

“You okay?” the young man asked, his smile never wavering. “Too much alcohol?”

“N-no,” Satou replied finally. “I just needed some air. Aren’t you cold?”

“I could ask you the same thing,” the guy replied. “Here. Feel my hand.”

He reached a hand out for Satou to take, making him nervous as he stared at it. Satou could see the veins in the young man’s wrist pulsing, calling for him to do more than just take his hand. This was dangerous. He had never encountered someone so beautiful before, and as he came closer to him, he smelled how delicious he would taste. Satou knew then that he needed to walk away before things got out of hand.

Instead, Satou reached out and took his hand. It was ice cold to the touch, but there was a certain warmth in it that he would never feel within himself again. He looked down at it, then up at the smiling man, his genuineness making his breath catch in his throat. There was something else that he felt, something more dangerous than any thirst that he felt. It was an electricity that seemed to flow from the man’s fingertips into his, making him feel a life within him that he hadn’t felt in so long.

“Your hands are colder than mine!” the young man said with a cheerful laugh. “Shouldn’t you be inside where it’s warm?”

“I’m fine,” Satou replied simply. “What about you? Your lips are turning blue.”

“True,” the guy laughed. Why was his smile so captivating. “I was just captivated by the moonlight, but now I’ve found something else to be captivated by.” 

Satou would blush if he had the capability of doing so. Instead, he went to pull his hand away. The young man held onto it, interlacing their fingers together as he held it up between them. Satou stared at their hands as he did it, an aching longing filling him to the brink of wanting to cry. Then he looked at the young man and felt a different sort of longing, like he was being called home. 

“What’s your name?” the young man asked, dropping their hands but still keeping them interwoven.

“Satou Mafuyu,” he replied. “You?”

“Yoshida Yuuki,” he said. “Please just call me Yuuki. Well Mafuyu, do you want to go inside and warm up together?”

Satou knew he should turn away in that instant. He just had to leave and let it be at that moment. It would spare both of them an unnecessary heartache later on. But there was another calling in his heart, something that ached for a connection that he couldn’t quite describe. He was used to being alone, okay with it even. Looking at Yuuki’s smile, though, he felt a calling in him that beckoned him onwards. 

“Yes,” Satou said quietly. He couldn’t turn away from Yuuki’s smile.

Hand in hand, the two of them walked through the snow and back into the inn, towards a future that neither of them anticipated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm very excited to be writing this, although I might not update daily like I do with my FFXV fics (like every other or couple days probably?). I have been told repeatedly that I should consider contributing a full-length fic to this fandom, so I decided to give it a go.
> 
> Hopefully I do the characters and the tone justice. If not, forgive me T___T
> 
> And to all who choose to read this, I hope you enjoy! <3


	2. The Seasons Cafe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Uenoyama tries to find a job

Uenoyama didn’t particularly think he had good luck. He didn’t think he had bad luck either. At best he considered himself average in that arena, although he had some talents with the guitar. But he never really found a band to connect with, and instead he had taken to playing for fun, writing music and putting his mixes online so that he didn’t have to just stunt his creativity. Now that he was out of high school, now that he had been fired from his office job where he worked for two years, he was just desperate for any type of work.

That’s why he felt like he had hit a streak of good luck when he saw the advertisement for a rare, secluded, niche cafe in an alley that was just off the beaten path. They were hiring one full time employee to help run the business during the night hours. Uenoyama found it odd that a cafe would be open at night, but then again there were many businessmen who needed to work the night shift. He wasn’t going to second guess it. Instead he was going to do what he could to get the job so he could finally afford his bills and stop relying on his sister for help. He needed to stand on his own two feet again.

Quickly, Uenoyama walked inside the shop. It was early evening, the sun almost set, and the cafe just opening for business. He half expected to see it covered in cobwebs and gothic spires, old chandeliers, and other macabre artifacts that would scare him off. Instead, it was warm, inviting, of deep mahogany colors and dim lightning that glistened off the wooden floor and barThere were several tables with candles lit on each one, and a row of mugs and glasses behind the bar, creating a sophisticated atmosphere for the cafe patrons to enjoy an intimate and relaxing evening.

A man with long hair tied back was cleaning a glass, inspecting it carefully, before deciding that it was good enough to put in the hanging rack of glasses behind him. The bar lighting glimmered of the glasses, showcasing how well they were cleaned, how much care was put into the bar. The man’s blonde hair was honey as the light framed his face, his amber eyes smiling at Uenoyama as he approached him. He wore black pants, a white button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and a white apron tied around his waist. While many kept their hair short, this man wore it well, giving the appearance that he embraced femininity well without losing his masculine features.

“Hello,” he said with a cheerful smile. “What brings you here to the Seasons Cafe?” 

Uenoyama hadn’t even noticed what the name of the shop was. He looked around for some sign, then realized he was indoors and turned back to him instead. While he had been job hunting all day, his suit looked rather worn and wrinkled, his black hair a bit frazzled, and his blue eyes tired. He didn’t look like a candidate for any job, much less one for a cafe this elegant.

“I saw the help wanted sign,” Uenoyama explained. These moments were easy for him to maintain his composure. He didn’t panic easily when it came to making sure his future was assured. He considered himself to be singularly focused, which meant he was particularly upset for being fired for his job. “Are you still hiring?”

“Yes we are,” he said happily. “I think you’re the only applicant who has stopped by, actually. And you look well put together. When can you start?”

“Hold on, Haruki,” a voice called from behind a curtain blocking the back room. A man with short blond hair and green eyes stepped out of the back, looking at Haruki with an inscrutable expression. He had several piercings in his ears and on his lip, giving the image that he had been in trouble before. Uenoyama looked at his serious expression, the man dressed the same as Haruki, and wondered if he would immediately shoot him down. “Shouldn’t we interview him first?”

“Come on Akihiko,” Haruki said, almost with a whine in his voice. “We need another full time employee while you deal with your second job. I know we’re not busy all the time, but we haven’t had one applicant who can handle the night shift.”

“Hmm,” Akihiko replied, looking from Haruki giving him pleading eyes over to Uenoyama, standing and staring with as much seriousness as he could muster. “I suppose that is the most important question. Have you ever worked in a cafe before? Or at all?”

“I had a job in an office,” Uenoyama replied honestly. “Now I am looking for another line of work that can keep me on my toes.”

“You mean gainfully employed,” Akihiko appointed out, his tone neither kind nor accusatory.

“Come on, Akihiko,” Haruki insisted. “We need the help. I can train him easily.”

“Fine,” Akihiko replied with a sigh. “One month probationary period. If he can’t cut it then he doesn’t get to handle the rest of it, understood?”

“Got it,” Haruki nearly cheered. “How about it ummm… Sorry, I never got your name.”

Akihiko bristled. “You never even got his name?”

“It’s Uenoyama Ritsuka,” Uenoyama said with a polite bow. “I will be in your care from now on.”

“Aw he’s cute,” Haruki said while Akihiko clearly sighed in annoyed defeat. Uenoyama froze for a second, trying not to blush a bit. He had never been called cute before. “How about it, Uenoyama? You think you can work the night shift?”

“Yes!” Uenoyama affirmed enthusiastically. This was it. His fate was changing for the better now. Finally, his luck had changed.

***

Uenoyama had no clue why working in a cafe that operated at night was so hard. He didn’t get how Akihiko and Haruki made it easy. The patrons that came in and out of the cafe were as diverse as they were kind. Some of them were particularly frightening at times, pale, well dressed, and looking at Uenoyama like he was a snack to eat. Not in the sense that they were sexually interested. They literally looked like he wanted to eat him.

Three weeks had gone by, and the training was grueling and intensive. Despite Haruki’s kind exterior, he was particularly stringent on ensuring Uenoyama knew all his coffees, his teas, and the pastries that they sold there. There was some sort of dark red liquid that they served up to the palest customers, but Uenoyama wasn’t allowed to know or to touch that yet. And despite Akihiko seemingly being hard on the outside, he was surprisingly kind and gentle, albeit a bit blunt in his demeanor.

At first, Uenoyama had a difficult time adjusting to the night shift, but by the third week he had adapted better than he expected. He finally was starting to get used to sleeping during the day and waking up in the evening to prepare to work at night. There was a wonderful hush that came over the city at night, a beauty in the way the moon illuminated the buildings. The cafe was the only shop alight in the darkness, and it was fantastically warm and welcoming to the point where Uenoyama didn’t particularly mind coming to work when everyone else was asleep.

He spent much of the first week doing the grunt work while Akihiko and Haruki served the customers, doing the dishes and sticking primarily to the back. Then Uenoyama graduated to clearing off the tables, sweeping the floors and having basic conversations with patrons. Finally, they thought he was ready to start serving coffee and tea, although it was much harder than it looked. He worked hard, taking his study guides home with him to learn the different types of tea and coffee, and by the third week he was finally getting the hang of it. 

“Finally think you can handle it?” Haruki asked him one evening with another smile in his direction. Somehow, the question was directed at Akihiko, not him. 

“Sure,” Akihiko replied for Uenoyama. “Good luck explaining it to him, though.”

“Uenoyama,” Haruki began as he poured a glass of the dark red liquid for a patron. The pale woman took it with a grateful nod and drifted over to her table. “Do you know what this liquid is that we’re serving?”

“What?” Uenoyama asked sarcastically. “Blood?”

Haruki and Akihiko looked at him seriously as he stood between the two behind the bar. He looked between the two of them, his skepticism turning to fear. There was no way what they were saying, or rather weren’t saying, was true. They couldn’t be serving blood to customers. Why would they?

“This cafe is open all night for one specific reason,” Akihiko said as he poured a glass of the liquid and looked at the blood as if studying a frog in a lab. “Vampires need a place to be able to drink without being persecuted. We need a place to be able to sustain ourselves, socialize, and not have to hunt and feed. I created this place for that very reason.”

“Vampires?” Uenoyama asked in disbelief. “You can’t be serious.”

As if to prove a point, Akihiko smiled for the first time since Uenoyama had been working there. Sure enough, his canines had turned to sharp fangs, far longer and far more dangerous than was humanly possible. Fear coursed through Uenoyama, but Akihiko didn’t attack him. Instead, he took a drink of the liquid in the glass, the red staining his lips just ever so slightly.

“Akihiko wanted to also create a place where vampires and humans could interact without fear,” Haruki explained as he shouldered the vampire with a smile. How was this all normal for him? “That’s why he asked me to run the shop with him since I’m human. We’re honestly glad to have another human on board. It makes it more welcoming for those who vampires bring on dates.”

“There are rules here, of course,” Akihiko continued. “No drinking from humans or killing while on the premises. No hunting, and no hunters. It’s a safe space for vampires and humans to just stop by and interact.”

“So what do you think?” Haruki asked. “Think you can handle it?”

“I...I…” Uenoyama had never been rendered speechless before. He thought about how he had to reconcile that vampires truly existed, that the myths and legends had been right. He thought about how one of his bosses was one of those vampires. Then he thought about how the pay was good, it was a rare cafe job that offered benefits, and how no one in the past three weeks had no much as touched him. “I think I can handle it. But I’m not going to pretend I’m not shocked.”

“See?” Haruki offered to Akihiko. “I told you he could deal with it.”

“Seems so,” Akihiko replied. He took another drink of the blood in the glass. “I need to order more supplies. Think you two can handle it up front here?”

“Can do!” Haruki said cheerfully while the tall blond vampire walked into the back to order whatever supplies. How did he even get the blood? “He might seem scary at first, but he’s really not. This cafe is pretty new, but everyone here is really respectful of each other. I think the vampires were just looking for a community to belong without having to follow any covens or anything.”

“Sure,” Uenoyama agreed, his shock still not wearing off. He had questions, a lot of them. But for now he could only stare in shock, looking around at those who were drinking blood out of the clear glasses while their human counterparts drank coffee or tea.

Uenoyama thought his luck was changing for the better. Now he was wondering if he was cursed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to make the chapters a bit short and concise for this fic because I wanted to just enjoy the writing process as I write these characters. (I'm also working on a much longer fic as my main project and it is far more intense than this one so this one is mainly my fluff, with some angst, piece right now.)
> 
> I hope everyone enjoys this so far as I haven't really explored these characters like I have some other fandoms, and I'm looking forward to doing so more!


	3. His Maker

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Akihiko reflects on mortality

Akihiko looked at Uenoyama as he emptied the garbage and took it out to the dumpster. It was so obvious that he had been panicking ever since they told him it was a vampire cafe that he was surprised Uenoyama showed up for work at all. At one point Haruki mentioned how he was proud of Uenoyama for taking it so well, but Akihiko was quick to point out how he had caught him hyperventilating behind the dumpster that evening before he came back inside. Nevertheless, he seemed to be adapting to it well enough.

“How long has it been now?” Haruki asked him as he rested his elbow on the counter, his chin in the palm of his hand, long fingers resting on his cheek. “About two years since we opened this place?”

Akihiko nodded. He knew what the real question was. How long has it been since you were turned into a vampire? Despite the smile that Haruki seemingly kept on his face the entire time they were at the cafe, Akihiko could see the worry lines around the corner of his mouth and eyes. There wasn’t much to be said or done for it. Akihiko was a vampire, and there was no coming back from such a transformation.

Haruki and Akihiko had been friends since college, their relationship getting closer and closer by the time they graduated. Haruki was a drifter for the first year after graduation, and Akihiko spent most of his time in a dead end job that he hated just to get by. They would meet after his job was over, almost daily, and Haruki would listen to Akihiko complain about how shitty his boss was. After drinking too much, he would walk over to Haruki’s place with him, sleep on his couch or bed until he was sober, then take his bike home.

That all changed one day when he happened to cross the paths of someone that would alter his life forever. Akihiko had left Haruki’s place, walked back to his bike still parked outside the bar, and was about to get on when a vampire approached him. He wasn’t exactly sure how it happened, which he later learned was part of a vampire’s power, but he ended up back in a nice house, his neck being sucked on.

When he was on the brink of death, the vampire had offered Akihiko his blood instead. Not really knowing what was going on, Akihiko accepted. He disappeared for a few days, staying at the vampire’s residence, learning about how he had changed and how he couldn’t just go back to his normal life. The vampire who had turned him had insisted that he stay with him going forward. Akihiko didn’t know what else to do other than agree, especially when he was told that he had to one day give up his entire life for immortality.

The first time Akihiko had left Ugetsu’s house to wander the streets, his senses so much sharper than normal now that he was a vampire, he told himself not to seek out Haruki. The last thing that Haruki needed was to deal with how much Akihiko had changed, his skin now ghostly pale, his hunger for something different than a beer and something to eat now. Yet he found himself wandering around Haruki’s apartment complex, telling himself that he wouldn’t go upstairs to see him. 

He did anyway, going all the way to Haruki’s apartment without knocking. Instead, he just stood there, thinking that it would be nice to see him, to feel something comfortable and familiar for the first time in a long time. But he knew that involving him would only hurt both of them in the long run. And Ugetsu was so very obviously jealous. 

As he was walking away, Haruki opened the apartment door, seemingly sensing his presence. He stared at Akihiko, his eyes rimmed red from crying, his body suddenly so frail to Akihiko. He could do anything to him in that moment. He could bite him, snap his bones in two. Staring at him, seeing how human he was now that he had been changed, Akihiko did the only thing he could think of. He wrapped his arms around Haruki and held him close.

Akihiko told Haruki what had happened. At first he didn’t believe him, but Akihiko showed him his fangs, his impossibly fast reflexes, his ability to see anything in the dark. He didn’t show him how he drank blood, abhorred by what that would do to Haruki. Haruki looked scared at first, but he didn’t run away. He only took Akihiko’s hand in his and told him he was there for him. That’s how Akihiko knew that he was in love with Haruki. 

Since then they had opted to open this cafe together, navigating through the possessive control that Ugetsu exerted over him, trying to keep him under his thumb. Every time Akihiko thought that he didn’t need to be with Ugetsu anymore, there was always something else that kept him close. He wanted to escape his relationship with him, but it wasn’t something he could easily vocalize. One did not just easily leave their maker.

It also meant that he was going to have to let go of Haruki eventually. There was no way he could involve him in this life forever, despite how Haruki seemed so happy to intertwine his life with Akihiko’s. Then again, Akihiko kept Ugetsu a secret from him. How could he just introduce someone as his maker, his lover by force because of it, to the man he genuinely loved? How could he let Haruki suffer with him if it meant having to turn him into a vampire? How could he just watch him grow old and die?

“Time really flies, huh?” Haruki continued, taking him out of his thoughts. Akihiko understood what he meant by that too. Haruki was aging in front of his eyes. While two years didn’t really mean much, twenty years certainly did. “It’s great that you finally found a way out of that dead end job.”

“Yeah,” Akihiko replied. He didn’t like the thought of watching Haruki age, but it was going to happen if he kept hanging around. And he couldn’t ask him to just go. Ever. Uenoyama came back inside, looking slightly panicked but less than he had been in recent days. “Maybe we should just turn Uenoyama into one of us.”

Haruki looked at him and smiled. “That’s a great idea.”

“Wh-what?!” Uenoyama asked, staring at them in shock and surprise by the vague tone Akihiko took. 

“It’s time,” Akihiko replied. He put an arm around Uenoyama’s shoulders and steered him towards the back. “Watch the front for me.”

“Will do,” Haruki replied cheerfully. “Don’t devour him in one go!”

Akihiko smirked as he led a panicked Uenoyama towards the back of the cafe. There was a large metal door in the back of the kitchen, one that had been off limits to Uenoyama until now. He could feel Uenoyama’s panicked pulse in his body, thrumming like he was a midnight snack. It would be so easy to just drink him and leave him for dead. But Akihiko wouldn’t do that to him. He hated doing it when he was first turned, and now that he had this as a substitute, he would never drink from anyone. Ugetsu hated it.

“We have a supplier who helps us,” Akihiko explained.

He released Uenoyama, ignoring his shocked expression, and took out the key to the door and unlocked it. When he opened it the cold air rushed outward. Uenoyama looked at the freezer in surprise, but Akihiko only stared at it for the necessity it needed to be for them to be successful. Row and row of blood was categorized in glass vials, each of them tagged for date and expiration and blood type. A light in the freezer shone on it with a blue hue, casting an eerie glow on it. 

“I think you’re ready to start preparing the blood for patrons,” Akihiko explained. “We’ll show you the ropes since if you don’t get it right you will seriously harm someone. Everyone has a preference for blood type too. AB is the hardest to get a hold of, but we have a small supply.”

Akihiko knew that AB negative was the rarest blood type, mainly because Ugetsu was disappointed that his blood was only A. Then again, Ugetsu had a weird way of getting under his skin in the weirdest ways and usually when he least expected it. Several times Ugetsu mentioned that O was considered dirty blood since it was most common, but from what Akihiko could gather, it was just his own preference. He was a fickle vampire. 

“Basically,” Akihiko continued. “We take the vials out as we need them and warm them to 98.6 degrees. The perfect temperature to drink. It has to be served fairly quickly. We keep the supply for the night up front, but we have to constantly be rotating stock. Think you can handle it? If not, it’s okay. Haruki and I can hold it down on our own until I can hire a vampire to take care of it.”

“N-no,” Uenoyama said quickly. Akihiko could see his heart pulsing in his veins, knowing that this may have been too much of an ask for him. “It’s fine. I can do it.”

“We will start you off slow,” Akihiko conceded. “It’s a lot to deal with, and there’s a lot of safety that goes into it. Consider it food safety.”

“How do you get all this?” Uenoyama asked.

“Volunteers,” Akihiko replied. “All of them agree to be drained a bit. In exchange we give them a free pound of coffee.”

“That’s it?” Uenoyama asked in disbelief, never taking his eyes off all the vials.

“That’s it,” Akihiko replied. “Most of them either had a family member or loved one turned and want to ensure they’re kept safe and given a place they can come to without having to hunt. It’s better than the alternative.”

“Akihiko,” Haruki called from the front. “There’s someone here to see you. Says he’s a… well something about making something?”

If Akihiko had any blood circulation, the blood would have drained from his face. He tried to maintain his composure, but Uenoyama could see his face, his desire for it not to be true. This was his cafe, his spot to be at night. They had agreed that Ugetsu wouldn’t come here unless invited. And he was not invited. Then again, that only worked with humans inviting vampires into their residences. It didn’t work for anything else.

His posture stiff, Akihiko locked up the freezer and turned away from Uenoyama, ignoring both him and Haruki as he stepped out to the front. There he was, all darkness and desire, sitting at the bar with a smile on his face. Ugetsu looked at him, his dark hair just barely brushed out of his brown eyes, his smile almost a threat as it was directed at Akihiko. Haruki looked between them uncertainly, but Akihiko only stared at Ugetsu.

“Hello there Mr. Owner,” Ugetsu said Akihiko approached him. “Think you can spare a night off? I have to leave town tomorrow and would like to spend the time with my boyfriend before I go.”

“Boyfriend?” Haruki asked as he looked from Ugetsu to Akihiko. This was exactly what he didn’t want to happen. Haruki didn’t need this, not while Akihiko wanted to disentangle himself from Ugetsu so completely.

“He didn’t tell you?” Ugetsu asked. “He is very private, after all. I’m his maker. Usually baby vampires need a lot of guidance the first twenty years or so. Makers are usually lovers with them for the first few years at the very least.”

“You should go,” Haruki said to Akihiko before he could say anything. “Uenoyama and I can handle it here.”

“You heard it,” Ugetsu replied, getting off the bar stool. “Come on. Take the night off so we can have some fun.”

Akihiko sighed and took off his apron. “Call me if anything comes up.”

“We’ll be fine,” Haruki replied with a cheer that made Akihiko’s heart ache.

“Sure,” Akihiko replied. He grabbed his bike keys and his jacket before following Ugetsu towards the door. On the way out, Ugetsu wrapped his arm around Akihiko’s possessively.

“Is that the guy?” Ugetsu asked once they were outside. “The guy you love?”

“I don’t love anyone but you,” Akihiko replied immediately.

“Oh I know that’s not true,” Ugetsu said. “Now come on. I’m hungry and want to hunt. I don’t like that shit you serve there. And afterwards I want you to hold me all night before I go overseas.”

Akihiko had no choice but to comply.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made Ugetsu a bit of a villain in this AU sorry!


	4. First Meetings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Satou stumbles upon a cafe

Satou was a drifter, never staying in one place too long. It had been a long time since he came back to Tokyo, and the excursion there was not likely to last very long. He didn’t like big cities, but it was easier to hunt there without getting caught or chased out of town. Cities like Tokyo were always alive, vibrant, moving around in an ever changing tide that would easily sweep Satou along with its vast current. It was easy for residents to get pulled along with the current, but Satou was always fighting against it, clinging to a branch along the riverbank. Getting swept away was an easy way to lose oneself. And Sato would never do that again.

There were rules that came with being a vampire that Satou had learned early on. How to hunt and go undetected was one. The other was never to fall in love with a human. There was no guarantee that they would want to join the darkness as a vampire, and the heartache that would be inevitable was just too much to bear. Satou had learned how to be a hunter for his food and did a great job at it. He learned the hard way about not falling in love.

When he came to Tokyo, he had heard about the vampire owned cafe that operated solely at night. It was something that all the vampires were talking about. While Satou was a loner, preferring to be on his own to being with any of his kind, word eventually got around to him about the establishment that was neutral ground for vampires and humans alike. Satou didn’t know what to think about it, but he assumed that it was operated and owned by a young vampire. Only young vampires had such compunctions to blur the lines between monsters and humanity.

Part of Satou said not to go. A cafe that mixed humans and vampires was dangerous and was sure to create a mess and a disaster. How the elders didn’t think anything of it was beyond him. But as he wandered the streets of Tokyo, he naturally came across the cafe and stared at it for a long time, unable to walk away. A vampire couple stared at him as they left the cafe, smiling and far happier than Satou ever was. Without thinking much about it, he walked into the cafe and crossed the threshold into a warm and inviting world. 

There were several humans in the cafe and a few vampires, and all of which were talking and chatting happily amongst each other. Satou felt uncomfortable, like he was an outsider even amongst the vampires. It had been so long since he had spoken to anyone, let alone to a group of people, that every fiber of his being told him to run and never look back. Instead, he caught the gaze of the vampire behind the bar, a man with several piercings, and was beckoned forward.

“First time here?” he asked as Satou sat at the bar, looking around nervously. Satou felt like his oversized sweater and jeans were out of place in such an upscale cafe, but the vampire didn’t really think much of it. When Satou nodded, the vampire understood. “What type do you prefer?”

“B,” Satou replied as two humans came out from the back, the one with dark hair carrying a case of blood in small glass vials. He stopped when he saw Satou and nearly dropped the case, but luckily the long-haired man caught it in time. He looked like he was about to scold him, but stopped when he realized that the dark-haired man was staring at Satou. Satou looked away, uncomfortable to be stared at by a human for such a long time.

“B, it is,” the vampire replied. He turned to the dark-haired beauty. “Uenoyama, type B.”

“So?” Uenoyama said. Then he looked at Satou and his eyes flickered in recognition. “Oh you mean… Sure, I’ll get it.”

Satou looked at them in confusion as Uenoyama went into the back quickly to get a vial of blood in type B. As he walked back there, Satou caught his scent and realized why he was so confused. Uenoyama was type B and thought the vampire behind the bar was making an introduction so he could drink from him. He wondered if that happened frequently.

“This is Haruki and I’m Akihiko,” the vampire said as he introduced himself and the employee stocking the vials. “The dense one is Uenoyama. Please make yourself at home here. It’s always comforting to see a new face.”

“I’m Satou,” he replied nervously. A moment later Uenoyama came back with the vial, clutching it in his hands. He kept staring at Satou, like he had never seen a vampire before, and Satou did everything in his power to avoid his gaze.

Akihiko took the vial and poured it into a glass before handing it to Satou. He looked at it, studied it really, trying to understand what was so great about drinking the blood from a crystal glass instead of from a breathing being. Satou didn’t kill his prey, but it felt awkward to be drinking it from a glass like he was somehow human for doing it. He took a drink of the liquid and found it as delicious as always, but it wasn’t the same. Maybe he had spent too long away from humanity and was due to come back to it. He hoped not.

“So Satou, what brings you to these parts?” Haruki asked as he leaned across the bar, his chin resting comfortably in the palm of his hand. Uenoyama was back at work, but Satou could tell he was listening.

“I’m just passing through,” Satou replied noncommittally. He didn’t need to be involved in anyone’s life, let alone a human’s. “I heard about this place and stopped in.”

“What do you think, so far?” Akihiko asked. “Give an honest opinion.”

“I don’t know,” Satou replied honestly. “I’m not really one to give a good opinion. I haven’t been to a cafe like this before.”

“That makes you particularly qualified to answer the question,” Haruki argued. “We need an outsider’s opinion from time to time.”

Satou looked at them then looked around the room. He thought about the general atmosphere of the place, then looked down at the glass of type B blood that glimmered in the dim lighting of the cafe. It was difficult to imagine Satou being a part of their world, someone who toed the line between human and vampire. He had done it before but ultimately made a promise to himself that he would never do it again. It made him uncomfortable to be amongst humans and vampires who didn’t see a problem with interacting with each other.

“How much do I owe you for the drink?” Satou asked as he looked at the blood. He had only taken a sip, but he reached into his wallet anyway. The only good thing about being a vampire was that he had learned how to make smart investments with the small sums of money he did have and became particularly wealthy over the years because of it.

“Oh, it’s ten thousand yen,” Haruki said. Akihiko elbowed him, but Satou didn’t understand that it meant that they were joking. He took the money out of his wallet and left it on the bar as he got up. 

“Wait, wait,” Akihiko said as he grabbed the money. “It doesn’t cost that much. Haruki was just joking.”

“Oh,” Satou said as he looked at the money in Akihiko’s hand. “You can keep it. Thanks for the drink.”

Satou left the cafe as quickly as he could, knowing that being amongst humans and vampires alike was not something he could tolerate for long. When he stepped out of the cafe and walked past an alleyway, he noticed Uenoyama taking out some garbage to the dumpster. Satou had to admit that Uenoyama was very beautiful, even for a human, but it was dangerous for him to even think that much of anyone who was human. 

“H-hi,” Uenoyama said as he caught his gaze. Satou didn’t even realize he had been staring. It was probably because he was hungry and hadn’t really had anything to drink. “I didn’t think you would be leaving so quickly.”

“Y-yeah,” Satou replied vaguely. “Have a good night.”

“Wait,” Uenoyama called for him as he raced towards Satou. “Will you come back tomorrow?”

“Why?” Satou asked, staring at him.

“Because you look like you could use a friend,” Uenoyama blurted out, like he had practiced the line but thought better of it as he was saying it. Satou thought it was cute, and that was another problem. He shouldn’t have thought anything of Uenoyama instead of how he smelled like he tasted good. 

“I’ll… Come back tomorrow,” Satou agreed against his better judgment. “Goodnight Uenoyama.”

Satou walked away before he could make anymore bad decisions. And it was no mistake that agreeing to come back was a bad decision.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahh I'm sorry it's been a few days since this has been updated. I have been working hard on my FFXV AU, which is my main project, but I've had this chapter in mind. Unfortunately I struggle with mental illness and haven't had the ability to write it out until now. 
> 
> Thank you for being patient with me! I hope you like it!


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